YuGiOh: Through Another's Eyes, Act 2: Kingdom of Duels
by Hikari Hellspawn
Summary: Manga-based. Sequel to Through Another's Eyes. Act 2, Chapter 5: Duelists for Hire. Other competitors aren't the only ones Selena has to look out for on the island; she's got to avoid Eliminators, if she wants to make it to the finals. That's not so easy to do, when at least one of them can psychically influence someone to a duel...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all, Hikari here. After some consideration, I opted to move the second Act of of Through Another's Eyes to another fic of its own, because of a few reasons.**

 **One: Act One is already almost _fifty chapters long_. It's insane. And Act Two could easily rack up a similarly crazy chapter count, and I don't want to deter new readers from the story entirely. So, I'm going to split up each individual "Act" into it's own fic. Don't worry, though; the premise of TAE is still the same, and Selena will not be going away.**

 **Two: While they're part of a larger, overarching storyline, each Act is, essentially, a self-contained story in and of itself. It doesn't make sense to have one fic be 100+ chapters, yet sound like there's several different fics being told in one file.**

 **Hence, the splitting up of arcs. For everything that happens up to this point, go back and read the first Through Another's Eyes (you should be able to find it on my profile). If you've already been a subscriber to that fic, then read on, my friends.**

 **As usual, my update schedule is once a month. No more, no less. Reviews, while appreciated, are not required-just, when you do, _please_ don't be a one- or two-word wonder!**

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! in any way, shape, or form. It is the property of Kazuki Takahashi and NAS/TV Tokyo. I'm just running around in their world to stir up trouble.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Invitation**

 _ **The past year has been, to say the least, a roller coaster. I showed up in Domino, Japan with no friends and a right eye that did nothing but bring me misery. How much can change in such a short time; within a semester I had friends, real**_ _ **friends**_ _ **, who were somehow unfazed by whatever heebie-geebies my Eye gives off. And following that, we hauled Jonouchi out of an old feud with his former gang boss (twice); dealt with a man who can shape our minds to suit his fancy; survived Seto Kaiba's "theme park of death", Death-T; and survived a game-night-turned-Shadow-Game. Of course, after all that I still had to head home for final exams, but I'm returning to my friends in January, and so far it seems to be going smoothly—well, apart from the fact that Jonouchi mistook my mom for me over the phone. I'm going to rib him about that.**_

 _ **But if I've learned anything since those days, it's that when you think you've passed the most of it…you haven't. We'd only just gotten to the base of our mountain, and we still had no idea how much farther our adventures would lead. The latest journey me and my friends were about to go on started with a package in the mail…and a man with an unusual eye of his own.**_

 _ **000**_

 _ **S**_ elena plopped onto the couch. It was good to finally be back; she'd just gotten off her flight and back to the Kame Game Store, and all she wanted to do was _sleep_ ; she was tired, frustrated, and knew that no matter how well she slept tonight the jetlag would make school in the morning a nightmare. But to Selena, it was worth it.

Here in Japan, a continent away from her family's farm in Iowa, she felt more at _home_ than in Des Moines.

All because of one short kid with gravity-defying hair. And his weirdo friends.

"Selena! Welcome back!"

Selena cracked open her eye. Said short kid with gravity-defying hair was entering the room, in a t-shirt, jeans, slippers, and looking way more awake than she was at the moment. "I hope you've got hot chocolate, because I'm dead."

Yugi laughed and handed her one of the mugs as he took a seat in the chair nearest to her. "How'd your finals go?"

Selena blew on her hot chocolate before taking a sip. "Well, considering all I had to do was fight off getting a swirly and find creative ways to deter my 'classmates' from cheating off me, rather well." She arched her eyebrow at him. "Did you actually _pass_ this time?"

Yugi scratched the back of his neck and looked away. "Well…."

"I'll take that as a no."

"I passed!" Yugi protested.

"Barely." Selena deadpanned.

Yugi gave her a look. "I haven't told you my grade…."

"No, but I gave you guys my number and Anzu texted me. A D-minus, _seriously?_ "

Suddenly, Yugi found his hot chocolate very interesting. "Okay, so maybe I didn't study as much as I should've…"

"Ya think?" Selena took a drink of her chocolate before nodding to the Puzzle. "Anything happen involving you-know-what?"

Yugi shook his head. "No, nothing that level of weird." He frowned and pointed to Selena's backpack. "I think your bag just… _meowed._ "

Selena gave him a 'what the eff' look. "Uh…what."

"Your bag. Either I'm so tired I'm hearing things, or there's a cat in your bag."

Selena's expression intensified, but she put her hot chocolate down on the coffee table and pulled her bag closer to open it…

…and had to duck out of the way as a yowling ball of fur shot out of it and around the table a couple times, before shooting under Yugi's chair—which got a yelp out of the boy who was sitting in it.

"What the _hell_?!" Yugi yelped.

Selena dropped the backpack and peered under Yugi's chair, and two wide, yellow eyes stared back at her. She sighed; Selena'd recognize that tabby fur anywhere. "Good god…I have no idea how she managed it, but my cat Belle managed to sneak herself along when I left Iowa."

Yugi gave her a look. "Is she always that…insane?"

"I'm guessing the crazy dash-around-the-room and hide-under-the-chair is from being stuck in my backpack for the last fifteen hours." Selena said, getting up and shaking her head. "I have no flipping idea how she got through customs…or past the airport in San Francisco, for that matter." She dug her phone out of her pants pocket. "Belle's a spaz-cat. I just didn't think she'd pull _that_."

"Spaz…right. I'm going to go with 'hellspawn', personally."

Selena grunted and rubbed her eyes. "Whatever works…."

Yugi's mother came out of the kitchen, where she'd been getting the dishes set up for breakfast the next morning. "What on earth is going on in here? Did you bring in the Apocalypse?"

"If you consider a traumatized, jetlagged spasticat the Apocalypse, then yeah." She dialed her home number and waited for it to be picked up as she added, "I'll explain when I'm done calling home."

Mrs. Mutou's mouth went into a thin line, like she wanted to say more, but just nodded, then returned to the kitchen with an exasperated sigh. Selena just returned the dumbfounded look Yugi was giving her with a shrug when her mom picked up.

 _"Selena! Did your flight go OK?"_

"Yeah; it was fine." Selena replied. "I ran out of books on the way here and spent the rest of the time wishing economy class had wifi, but I survived. Um…" She paused. "…have you seen Belle since I left?"

 _"No; she usually hides in the bushes next to the porch and mopes for a couple days after you leave anyway. Selena, why're you asking?"_

"Well…." She started, but got cut off by Yugi.

 _"YEOWCH!"_

 _"Selena? What was that?!"_

"…That was Yugi. Belle's under the armchair and just scratched he hell out of his hand."

 _"What?! What the hell is Belle doing in_ _Japan_ _?!"_

Selena sighed. "She stowed away. In my backpack. Don't ask me how she got past the airports' security, I have no idea." She watched as Yugi nursed his hand, grumbling several unhappy epithets under his breath. "All I know is when I got to the shop, my bag meowed and I opened it…and out shoots Belle and under the chair she goes."

 _"Oh dear god…"_ Selena could hear Mom groaning over the phone. _"Well, we'll get a care package ready. And make sure you get Belle to the vet and make sure she's all right. And hope they don't think you're insane with that story…."_

"I'm not sure I believe it either, Mom." Selena said, stifling a yawn. "Anyway, I just wanted to call and let you know I got to Japan all right, and that me and Belle are all right…mostly."

She heard a small chuckle on the other end of the line as Mom replied. _"All right. I'm glad your trip went well, and_ _try_ _not to scare the pants off your friends. Again. 'Night, honey."_

Selena smiled. "'Night, Mom. See you in a few months."

 _"See you, hon."_ Her mom hung up, and Selena turned her phone off.

"Well, that's taken care of." She strode over to the chair and crouched down, peering at the freaked-out cat hiding under it. " _You_ , little one, need to get over your detachment complex."

Belle responded with a hiss.

Selena let out a tired sigh and stood as Yugi returned from the kitchen, no doubt where he'd been cleaning and dressing the scrapes. "Your cat is evil."

"What she _is_ is absentminded." Selena sighed again, looking back to the chair Belle had taken refuge under. "She pulls crazy-ass stuff like this all the time; once, she tried getting into one of the birdhouses and Dad had to take the thing down and take her to the vet to get her leg out."

Yugi gave her a look. "Should I feel sorry for the cat or the bird?"

"Both." Selena said. "The trauma went both ways; Belle didn't like getting her leg stuck, and the bird didn't like a wacky cat intruder or having its home driven into town and broken open to get the cat _out_."

Yugi just groaned and shook his head. "Okay…I'm heading to bed. I'm tired, school starts at seven, and hopefully that cat'll be hiding somewhere else in the morning."

Selena snorted a laugh. "Hopefully. Don't count on it."

Yugi groaned from halfway up the stairs.

 _ **000**_

 **A** s Selena had expected, the next day was miserable, no small thanks to jetlag.

"Welcome back!" Jonouchi bounded into the classroom, yelling the greeting. Selena raised her head from her folded arms and flipped him off.

"Welp, it's still Selena, if she's flipping you off." Melhana said, clapping the blonde on the shoulder. She turned to Honda and held out her hand. "You owe me 500 yen."

Selena rubbed her eyes as Honda grumbled and got out his wallet. "Okay, _why_ were you two betting on me?"

Honda fumed as he handed over the money. "Mel and I made a bet about what you'd do to Jonouchi when you got back. I thought you'd hit him over the head with a book."

"And _I_ said you'd be too tired from jetlag to do more than flip him off." Melhana said, tucking the bill into her wallet, smiling. "So I just earned 500 yen."

Selena let out another groan. She was too tired to care. Jonouchi, on the other hand, was a little more scandalized, as could be heard from his "Why didn't you tell _me?!_ "

"Because you were one of the ones we were betting on, genius." Honda said. "Mel, I'm never making a bet with you again."

"Uh-huh. Riiiiight. Let's see if you hold to that with the X-Games."

"If it make you feel any better, I kept out of it." Bakura said, dropping into his seat. "And tried telling Honda it was a _bad idea_. Which it was."

"Coming from the guy who got possessed by a psychopath…."

Bakura tossed a pen at him. "Shut up. And I'm not possessed anymore. _And_ that was _two months ago._ "

Selena stared at the long-haired gamer. "No offense meant—and if there is any, I blame jetlag and not enough caffeine—but where'd these stones come from?"

Bakura gave her an amused snort and jabbed his thumb in the direction of Jonouchi and Honda. _"Those_ two. Now I can see why Anzu usually has a headache."

"Oh, just wait. They get worse." Anzu deadpanned, pulling out her notebook.

Bakura made a small choking sound. "The toilet seat wasn't the _worst?!_ "

Selena stared at Jonouchi and Honda. "What. The. _Hell_. Was the toilet seat?"

"Err…." Honda looked away as Jonouchi shifted uncomfortably. "It wasn't as bad as it sounds…."

"Jonouchi got his head stuck in a toilet seat and we had to call the ambulance." Anzu said. Yugi was sniggering, and Bakura facepalmed. " _After_ Honda got the bright idea to take pictures. Thankfully for both of their dignity, Yugi stopped Honda from putting them on Facebook."

Yugi shrugged. "Well, that, and if we put them up right away, we wouldn't have anything for blackmail."

Jonouchi, to his credit, was beet red. "You're all assholes."

Selena had to put down her coffee before she choked on it, laughing. "Well, now we have proof; your head really _is_ in the toilet. Explains everything."

This time, it was Selena's turn to be flipped off. "Fuck off."

Selena stuck her tongue out and gave him the horns. "Only if you do first."

Bakura groaned. "Why. Just why."

Melhana patted the boy on the back in a consoling manner. "Don't worry, it could be worse; they could've teepeed Karita's house. Or put a giant penis in his front yard, like they _were_ planning."

Bakura made a sound like he was dying inside. Selena made a sound halfway between a laugh and a dying crow.

Anzu bonked herself on the head with her notebook. "Don't. Remind. Me."

A nasty grin spread over Selena's face. "You know…if you two still want to put the penis in Karita's front yard, I _could_ help with that…."

From the sound Anzu made, Selena was pretty sure she just ate a crow.

Bakura let out another small groan and got up. "I'll be back. I need another coffee…and that may not be enough."

"Mission accomplished!" Jonouchi gave Honda a high-five. "We broke Bakura."

"I can still hear you!" Came Bakura's voice from outside the room.

Yugi cleared his throat. "Well, since we're embarrassing people, I figure now would be a good time to mention that Selena brought a cat."

The others stared. "Okay. Run that by me again?" Anzu said.

Selena plunked her head back down on her desk with a groan. It had no effect on Yugi's continuing. "Last night after Selena got back to the shop, we found out that her cat had stowed away in her backpack."

Anzu blinked and looked to Selena. "He's joking, right?" She asked, pointing to Yugi.

Selena sighed and shook her head, still on the desk. "No, he's not; Belle the spastikitty, in all her wisdom, got the bright idea to hide in my backpack before I left Iowa." She explained. "I have no idea how she got through airport security, several times, or how customs missed her. All I know is she hid in my backpack for fifteen hours and somehow didn't poop and pee all over the inside of it."

"And then when she got back to the shop and let the ball of nightmares out, it shot around the table, under my chair, and decided my hand was a scratching post." Yugi held up his scratched hand. "Selena, I swear your cat is from Hell."

Selena raised her head again and rubbed her eyes. "Belle's a lot less…psycho, I promise." She said. "Spastic? Yes. Kinda dumb? …Yeah, a little. Psycho demon-kitty from hell? No." She leaned back in her chair. "Trust me, Belle's a harmless derpy ball of adorable. She's the reason cat videos exist."

Yugi raised his eyebrow at her. "Uh-huh. I'll believe that when she isn't hissing like an angry anaconda."

"Give her a few weeks and she'll come out of hiding and forget about the trauma, and start sitting on your stomach for a wake-up call." Selena said as Bakura returned, canned coffee in hand.

"Do I want to know what happened?" The boy asked. He held up his hand. "Er…don't answer that. I'm not sure I want to know."

Selena shrugged. "You'll probably find out this afternoon anyway. I might see if I can bribe her out with a bit of octopus, if we've got any. She went apeshit over the stuff the last time I was home…."

"Hey, that reminds me; tonight's the finals for the Duel Monsters national!" Yugi said. "How's about we all watch it together at my place?"

"Sure! Plus, it'll give Jonouchi a chance to get some practice in." Anzu said. "You guys in?"

"I don't have any chores at home, so I'm good." That was Honda.

A "Same here," came from Jonouchi.

Bakura held up a hand. "Eh, no thanks. I've got some stuff to take care of at home. I'll leave any crazy Selena brought back to you guys tonight."

Melhana snorted a laugh. "Hate to tell you this, buddy, but the crazy lives _here_. It just merges with the odd that hovers around Selena when she's here."

Selena made a noise in the back of her throat. "Funny. Real supportive, Mel." She grumped. "I'll remember that the next time we're playing Super Smash Bros."

"What about you Melhana?"

"I'll have to pass too, much as I wish I could be there." The Egyptian girl said. "I've got chores at home after school…and it's not something I can put off till tomorrow, unfortunately."

"Aww man…I was hoping we'd finally figure out what deck you had!"

Melhana winked. "Sorry, you're gonna have to wait a bit longer, Jo." She replied. "Besides, watching you wrack your brain's pretty funny."

Jonouchi sunk down into his chair grumbling something as the bell rang for class to start. Selena pulled her notebook, textbook, pens and sketchbook out of her bag.

Stuff like this is why she missed Japan.

 _ **000**_

 **"O** h, Yugi, before you get too drawn in; a package came for you today."

Yugi peered at the box Mr. Mutou had on the table. "Who's it from?"

His grandfather shrugged. "There wasn't a return address. It seemed safe enough, though; just be careful when you open it."

Yugi nodded as they headed to the living room. "Someone send you a birthday gift or something?" Selena asked.

Yugi shrugged. "No idea." The boy replied. "But…it couldn't be _too_ bad, could it?"

Selena hmmed. "…maybe…."

Yugi frowned. "You think it's…not a prank or something, do you?"

"Meh…call me paranoid. But given the last year and a half, well…." Selena trailed off.

Yugi was spared answering when Jonouchi called from the living room. "Hey! Get in here, you two! The show's starting!"

Selena shook the suspicions out of her head as she and Yugi settled down with the rest of the group. As far as she was concerned, tonight was a night to be normal teenagers. And it would stay that way.

Which was why Selena was a little let down when Haga took down Ryuzaki. She was trying to coax Belle out from under her chair with a piece of jerky—the cat wasn't having any of it, but still—when the package from earlier was brought up again.

"Hang on…we can play a few rounds after we check out this," Yugi said, opening the package. The remaining four peered over as the box opened. "What the…."

"What's with the glove? And the tape?" Honda asked.

Selena shrugged. Jonouchi just grabbed the tape. "Maybe there's an explanation. Can you play this, Yugi?"

"Yeah, sure…." As Yugi plugged the videotape into the VCR, Selena rubbed at her eye.

 _Dammit, girl, don't get suspicious. Not now, no way. We dealt with the last of the crazy with Monster World. There is. No. More. Weird. Shit. It's just a package, there's no more freaky to deal with._ She berated herself. _It's all in your head, girl. Don't let it—or the Eye run away with you._

 _"At last! Good to meet you, Yugi-boy! I've been waiting for this moment for a_ _long_ _time!"_

Selena rocked back on her heels. "Yugi, isn't that—?"

"Pegasus! Why'd he want to send you a tape?"

Yugi just shook his head. "I don't know…I haven't entered any tournaments."

"No, but you're hella good."

Yugi shot Jonouchi a look. "Again, I haven't entered any tournaments."

"Which brings us back to the question of why the creator of Duel Monsters would send you a…well, this."

 _"Oh, no, no need to be surprised! I just wanted to send a greeting to the_ _real_ _champion. You did defeat Kaiba-boy, after all."_ The image of Pegasus on the screen smiled. _"And, challenge you to a duel, of course. I know, dueling a video recording won't be quite the same as in person, but it'll have to do, I suppose."_

"This guy _does_ know what Skype is, right?" Honda grumbled.

 _"I'll give you five minutes to build your deck, then we'll duel. Well, if you decide to accept, of course; if not, then this video will be rather pointless."_

"That's hardly a challenge, though! He couldn't know Yugi's deck; he'd be guessing." That was Grandpa. Yugi, on the other hand was already getting ready to duel, a small smile spreading on his face.

Selena just shook her head and leaned against the couch. _To be fair, Yugi_ _is_ _good._ She said. _And…Pegasus_ _did_ _know about Yugi beating Kaiba…but that also happened in front of a crowd of people. There were probably kids with their smartphones and stuff recording it so they could watch the duel later. I'll bet any number of videos of that duel are floating around the Internet by now._

She tried ignoring the itching in the back of her right eye. As much as she told herself otherwise, this felt… _off._ It wouldn't be the first time she had a false alarm, but….

The image of Pegasus looked up, and fixed its eyes on Selena. Selena's heart turned cold…that didn't feel like a glance from a recording.

It felt like he _was looking at her._

 _It's a_ _video recording_ _, Selena. He's_ _not_ _here. Besides, he's just a man. Okay, so he's the creator of Duel Monsters and massively rich and probably a huge nerd, but he's_ _normal_ _._ She let out a breath and shook her head. The feeling passed. _Don't get wound up over nothing. Your Eye's spazzed out before._ _You're paranoid._

She put the niggling feeling to the back of her mind and watched the duel. She frowned at the first couple turns, where Pegasus got the guesses right…but thought nothing of it.

Mostly.

There was a sting in her eye—the same kind she got when a Millennium Item activated. The air in the room suddenly felt…heavier, as Yugi switched.

 _Alt-Yugi. He takes over when things get hinky. Did Yugi pick up the same…weird feeling I've been having?_

Then again…Kumori Dragon _had_ been sucked into the _TV screen._

Selena groaned inwardly. If there was any hinkiness about….

 _"Aww, why so gloomy all the time? Can't we just enjoy the game?"_

Selena's eyes narrowed. Something wasn't… _right._ Something was _off._ It was hard to believe with the bad jokes and smile, but Selena couldn't help but get bad vibes from the videotape.

Selena decided to act on her instincts. She ignored the duel for a few moments and closed her eyes, opening herself to just a thin stream of her power, just enough to feel those around her.

Behind her eyelids, Selena could "see" Jonouchi's, Anzu's, and Grandpa Mutou's auras beside her; bright yellow, soft peach, and dark brown, respectively, each "color" in a blob vaguely shaped like its owner. In front of her, burning much brighter—and, even with the limited amount she was sensing with, almost overwhelmingly—was Alt-Yugi.

And another presence. One that Selena _knew_ shouldn't be there, _couldn't_ be there, but it was.

A cold, silvery-white aura. In the _same place_ as the TV. And it was nearly as overpowering as Alt-Yugi's.

Pegasus. It was Pegasus. Somehow, he was using the videotape as a conduit to duel Yugi in _real time._ Selena opened her eyes, and she saw Summoned Skull facing off against Illusionist Faceless Mage. Her mouth went into a thin line. _I couldn't see the monsters before._

Playing a hunch, Selena looked to Anzu. "Anzu, can you _see_ anything between Yugi and the TV? Like…the monsters, in the air?"

Anzu's brow furrowed. "No…Selena, what—?"

 _"Game over, Yugi-boy! Time for your penalty game!"_

Selena felt it. She clapped a hand to her Eye as it activated. She felt that sort of power before, she was familiar with it…. "Yugi! Look—"

 _"Grandpa! Grandpa, what happened?!"_

Still with her hand over her eye, Selena felt a cold trickle down her spine. Her eye was fully active. Bakura wasn't there, it couldn't be the Ring. Yugi's Puzzle was already active.

Grandpa Mutou's soul was gone.

 _Oh gods, what happened?!_

 _What_ _is_ _Pegasus?!_

Pegasus's image on the video tape hmmed. _"Well, that was entertaining, at least. And now you've no choice but_ _to_ _come to my 'Duelist Kingdom'. As for how I read your hand…"_ he pulled his hair away from his face, and Selena felt bile rise in her throat.

 _"This is the Millennium Eye. It allows me to see into the_ _soul_ _of the person I choose._ _Nothing_ _is hidden from me, Yugi-boy. Nothing."_

Selena's hand fell from her own active Eye. _That's a Millennium Item. That's why I was reacting._ She looked to Grandpa's Mutou's comatose body. _Did he use it to do something to Mr. Mutou? Hell, is that how that 'recording' was even made?_

Pegasus's face went to static. It was replaced by Grandpa Mutou. Selena took several breaths, getting a hold of herself, and getting the Eye back under control. She ran her hands through her hair, hearing but not registering what was going on around her.

 _That was more than a duel. That was a Shadow Game. That was what my Eye was reacting to this whole time. Pegasus was using a Millennium Item, he just didn't go full-blast with it until the end. No_ _wonder_ _it felt familiar—_ _Yugi_ _has a Millennium Item. Bakura has one. Shadi had one._

 _Why didn't I make the connection?_

 _Why didn't I_ _warn_ _Yugi?_

 _And why did I think that, for once, things would be_ _normal_ _?_

 _ **000**_

 _ **Normally, the crazy weird shit waits a few days before starting back up again. Hah, no such luck, this time; I'm not even in Japan twenty-four hours and the weird goes into high-gear. Millennium Items, Shadow Games, souls being stolen, and all the hinkiness are all too routine for me and my friends. But it isn't the Shadow Games or the Millennium Items that worries me.**_

 _ **It's that I**_ _ **didn't make the connection sooner**_ _ **. You see, I know what a Millennium Item feels like when it's activated. I don't know how to describe it; powerful? Heavy? Old? Like getting hit by a flood? Ech, it's really hard to explain and I suck at explaining things. All I know is that it's something that even though I can't put it into words, I**_ _ **know**_ _ **what it feels like. I mean, I've known Yugi and Alt-Yugi for over a year already, had Shadi in my head—do**_ _ **not**_ _ **want anyone in there again, nope, no thank you—and was put into a lead figure by Anti-Bakura. And each time my Eye goes off the rails.**_

 _ **So this brings me back to my main concern; I didn't recognize the Millennium Eye as another Millennium Item. Something that I should've been able to do. I'm not sure what bothers me more; the fact that I didn't recognize what I was picking up earlier, or the fact that the**_ _ **reason**_ _ **I didn't pick it up was because it was**_ _ **too**_ _ **familiar. That it was so familiar that I've started tuning it out.**_

 _ **Just what I needed. More reasons to hate my Demon Eye.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to our regular readers, as well as to loverswatch for adding the original TAE to their favorites! Welcome!**

 **Another month, another chapter. As always, I don't own anything in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe. I'm just writing this for fun.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Why Selena Hates Boats**

 _ **So, Yugi lost a duel. To Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters. Who has the Millennium Eye. And took the soul of Yugi's Grandpa and stuck him in a video tape. And the only way to get him back is for Yugi to enter a tournament held by Industrial Illusions on Duelist Kingdom. No pressure.**_

 _ **Almost two years ago now, I would've shook it off and dismissed it as being none of my business. Now…it is. Or, it's my friend's business, which makes it**_ _ **my**_ _ **business. Which is why I'm getting ready to head to Duelist Kingdom with Yugi, Jonouchi, and the others. Yugi's entering to save his grandpa. Jonouchi's entering to save his sister from going blind. I'm going because….**_

 _ **I don't have to. I don't have anything close to my heart hanging in the balance. I don't**_ _ **have**_ _ **to go. But I am. Because my friends are, and for me that's all the excuse I need. Just…why do we have to get there by**_ _ **boat**_ _ **?!**_

 _ **000**_

 **A** week had passed already, since Grandpa Mutou's soul was stuck into a video recording by Pegasus, and Yugi had gotten the invitation to Duelist Kingdom. Earlier in the week, Jonouchi had decided he was going to enter too, after he got a video from his sister, to win the prize money for an operation to save his sister's eyesight.

Selena was cheering for the both of them.

Or she would be, once they got there. For the moment, the psychic was too busy trying not to throw up.

 _Me and boats do_ _not_ _mix._

"Earth to Selena! Hello-o, anybody home?"

Selena grabbed Jonouchi's wrist and twisted it just enough to make him sqeak. "Don't talk to me. I might throw up on you."

"You _sure_ it's not from lunch? I mean, you _did_ have the clams…."

"Shut up, Honda. Or I'll puke on you next."

Bakura interposed himself between Selena and the two boys, and pried Jonouchi's wrist out of Selena's hand. "How's about we _stop_ irritating the seasick person and start thinking about the tournament?" He suggested. "That way we've got a plan, and nobody's been barfed on."

 _Thank you, Ryo._ Selena thought gratefully. Selena and boats had never really mixed. For that matter, Selena and _water_ never mixed, outside the bathtub. She couldn't swim; one of the many reasons Karita got on her when it was swim day in PE. School regs said that, because she couldn't swim, Selena therefore didn't have to be issued a swimsuit or dress when it was swim day. Apparently, school regulations had never been a good enough excuse for Karita the cranky jock.

Just as well, because on all of the handful of times Selena had been on a boat, she'd gotten seasick. Badly. And this was no exception. _I should've packed ginger pills. Not that they would've done much good anyway, but still…._

It didn't help that ever since Yugi and Pegasus had dueled, Selena hadn't been able to completely tune out her Eye. That was coming back to bite her, as she wasn't just feeling her own discomfort about being on the water, but the various levels of excitement and nervousness and all the other emotions of the rest of the duelists on the ship. Empathy…of all the things her Demon Eye let her do, that was one ability she could do without.

Selena pressed her fingertips to her temples and closed her eyes, pressing her forehead into her knees. She took several long, deep breaths, focusing on clearing her mind; gradually she felt the myriad emotional overflow from her surroundings fade into the background, and felt at least some of her nausea diminish. She was still seasick, but at least now she didn't feel like she had to run to the bathroom and pray to the porcelain gods.

She took a final deep breath before rejoining the land of the living. The others were giving her a look, and she shrugged. "I'm not a fan of boats. The fact that I'm not leaning over the railing right now is a minor miracle."

"Well, at least now we know why you can't swim." Selena swatted Honda with her bedroll. "Hey! Kidding!"

"Lay off, Honda." Anzu said. "Selena, you sure you're all right? You still look kind of green."

"I'll be fine once I'm back on dry land." Selena replied, uncurling herself and sitting cross-legged. "It…wasn't just the seasickness, but I don't think I'll barf anymore." She shot Jonouchi a look. "Unless _some people_ start teasing again."

Jonouchi held up his hands. "Hey, I was just worried!"

"Shut up, Jonouchi. I said I don't _think_ I'll barf anymore. The trip's not over yet; I just might end up making good on that promise."

"Okay! Let's talk about something _other_ than barfing on people!" Anzu's tone brooked no argument. "Like, what's the plan when we reach the island?"

"Anzu, it's a _Duel Monsters tournament._ We duel people!"

Anzu shot Jonouchi a look. " _Other_ than dueling people." She deadpanned. "Don't tell me those cards you got in the mail, Yugi, were the _only_ clues about the tournament?"

Yugi shook his head. "That's it." He sighed. "My guess is we'll find out more once we make landfall. Or, I hope we will."

Honda groaned. "You know, if they're hosting a tournament, you'd _think_ they'd give the entrants a little more info other than when we leave, the prize, and where it is."

Selena shrugged. "It's being hosted by the mega-rich CEO of a major gaming company. The guy can be as vague as he damn well pleases, I guess." She said. "Yugi's probably right; once we get there, we'll find out more about the actual _rules_ for the tournament. Like if there's a time limit or something."

"Since it's on an island, there'd have to be." The teen in question said. "And from the looks of it, a lot of the people here aren't too much older than us. Even Haga and Ryuzaki can't be more than our age."

"I'm gonna bet Haga's younger, actually." Jonouchi said. "I mean, he's shorter than _you_ , no offense."

Yugi gave Jonouchi the stinkeye, but didn't otherwise reply to the jab at his height. "What I'm saying is, everyone here may be really good duelists, but most of them are kids. Even Ma—er, Miss Kujaku couldn't have even been ten years older than us."

Selena noted that Anzu's eye twitched at the mention of the older woman. Selena suppressed a snort of a giggle; which, really, wasn't all that hard, considering her stomach's opinion of the trip so far. The boys' reaction to Mai Kujaku had been hilarious; even Yugi, the one with the most common sense— _relatively,_ a voice in the back of Selena's head added, as even Yugi had done a few not-so-bright things in the past (a certain incident involving a mythical ghost in the school boiler room came to mind)—hadn't been able to stop staring. And had even turned into a babbling mess when Mai had addressed him.

Selena had had to practically shove her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. She filed the event away in the "friendly blackmail" folder. Right up there with the haunted boiler room prank and Aptitude Test Bingo.

"Pretty sure we're going to have to figure out a way to get Jonouchi a glove like mine," Yugi continued. "And make it through the first round; I'll bet a lot of duelists will be eliminated in the first couple rounds, thinning everything out for the rest of us."

"And leaving the _really_ good ones behind," Honda added. "You said it yourself; everyone here is already really good. Getting through the first round is going to be hard."

Selena's mouth tightened at that thought. She thought to the deck she had in her hoodie pocket at the moment; she still hadn't told her friends she'd brought her cards with her. Earlier, Jonouchi had traded cards with some of the duelists, but Yugi had refrained; so had Selena. Partly because she didn't want to part with any of the cards she already had—they'd gotten her through two "psychic duels" with X, so far—and partly because she still hadn't decided what route she was going to take once they hit landfall.

 _And maybe you're a little bit scared, yourself._

Selena pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She'd done a few regional tournaments in the past couple years…but nothing beyond that. Most of it was because she wouldn't have been able to afford the plane tickets to get to the American nationals.

But another part of it was the same fear that was sending butterflies into loop-the-loops in her stomach, right alongside the seasickness. She hadn't wanted to risk the sort of…notoriety getting to statewide championships would've gotten her. And the repercussions she'd have to endure at home.

She still wasn't sure if she thought she was good enough to compete at this level. Or, hell, if she'd even be able to edge her way in. Selena _still_ hadn't figured out how she'd do that, anyway….

"Selena?"

Selena looked to Yugi. He was giving her a funny look; brows knitted, small frown. Usually an expression like that meant he knew something was wrong, but wasn't going to outright ask. More than once she suspected her spikey-haired friend had some measure of empathic sense too, even if he didn't know it.

Selena gave a weird half-shrug. "Just…nerves." She said. "I mean…Pegasus has that eye, right? And he _created_ Duel Monsters. What if he has some motive other than just challenging you to a duel?"

Yugi's mouth went into a thin line. "I've thought about that, too." He said softly. "But I have no idea what it is. If he'd just wanted me in this tournament, then I'd have gotten a regular invitation, like everyone else here. But that video recording, that duel, stealing Grandpa's soul…it doesn't feel right. It bugs me."

"Same here," Jonouchi said. "I mean, I'm not a psychic like Selena and I don't have one of those Millennium Item thingies, but even _I'm_ getting the heebies from all this. Something smells."

"Got that right," Honda added. He propped his arm up on his bent knee. "But what? It just brings us back to Selena's question."

Yugi rested his chin on his knees. "I don't know. And I'm not sure if I want to think about it." Idly, the boy rested a hand on the Puzzle. "The other me…he's still frustrated. Not so much depressed as before, but…."

"Upset, kind of?" Anzu asked.

Yugi nodded. "I can't blame him either…I'm bothered by it all, too. And then, even if I _do_ defeat Pegasus, what if that doesn't get Grandpa back to normal?"

"Let's cross that hurdle when we get to it," Bakura said. "Until then, just focus on getting to the finals; if you'll be dueling Pegasus at all, it'll probably be there."

Yugi nodded. He uncurled himself from his sitting position and rose. "I'm going to go get some fresh air. Maybe that'll clear my mind a little bit."

"Sounds like a good plan." Jonouchi said. "In the meantime, anybody want to get in some last-minute practice?"

Honda held up a hand. "I'll pass. No offense, man, but I'm a little sick of dueling after the past week."

"Eh, you're fine. What about you, Selena?"

Selena shook her head. "I'm with Honda. And I'm still feeling a bit too green to be up to a few duels," She said. "And I don't think you'd like it if I upchucked all over our cards."

"Good point. Anzu?"

"Ah…what the hell? Just don't bitch if I beat you again."

"I think I'll pass on watching the slaughter." Selena said, rising. Her stomach did a few more backflips as the boat adjusted course for whatever reason. "I feel like I may be in for some quality time with the bathroom, before long."

She headed a couple doors down the hall to said bathroom—she really _did_ feel like shit—and leaned up against the wall. She looked in the mirror, and grimaced as she looked as bad as she felt. Anzu hadn't been kidding; she did look green. _I really_ _hate_ _boats,_ she thought, wondering if coming along really had been the best idea.

Selena was about to head into one of the stalls just in case she really _did_ blow chunks when she heard a scream from outside. She ran back out of the bathroom, mind racing. _That sounded like Yugi!_

She reached the deck right as she heard a splash. "Get a rescue ladder!" She heard Anzu call, and intercepted Honda as he ran to grab one.

"What happened?!" She asked as they returned the group and threw the ladder down the side, she and the two boys anchoring it.

"That little weasel Haga tossed Yugi's Exodia cards into the ocean; Jonouchi dove after them." Selena's eyes went wide at Honda's reply. "When I get my hands on that little—"

A few minutes later Jonouchi was out of the water, wrapped in a towel, and cussing himself out. "Dammit…I'm sorry, Yugi, I couldn't find the rest of them." His hand balled into a fist. "When you track him down on the island, leave some for me; he's gonna get his lights punched out for that stunt."

"Chill out, dude." Honda said. "We all know Haga pulled a shit stunt. But cool your jets; I'll bet whatever pounding he gets in a duel will be enough." The fact that his fists were balled in his pockets was not lost on Selena.

Selena, too, was mad. "Normally I'd be on the side of 'think first, punch later', but right now I'm with Jonouchi." She said, hands in her hoodie pocket. "When we track him down, don't be surprised if those lame little glasses of his are broke. With his nose."

"Let's wait till we get to the island before you guys start planning revenge," Anzu said. "Landfall's tomorrow morning; let's just get some sleep and cool your jets in the meantime."

Grunts of agreement echoed all around, and Selena looked out the window, frowning. A muscle worked in her jaw. The incident that had just happened with Haga had helped Selena come to a decision.

Once they got to the island, she was going to find a way to fudge her way into the tournament.

 _ **000**_

 _ **I'm a lunatic. I'm a freaking lunatic. Yes, I know I never got an invite to the tournament, but honestly, I don't care. That stunt Haga pulled with Yugi's cards was no bueno, in more ways than I care to say. The little shit was too afraid to take on and beat Yugi in a fair fight in the dueling ring, so he went ahead and pulled an underhanded, shitty stunt that, as far as I'm concerned, is cheating. Any respect I may have had for him has gone down the toilet, and if I run across the little….**_

 _ **Now I just need to figure out how to edge into the tournament. I don't have a dueling glove, I don't have any star chips…hell, I never got an official invitation to Duelist Kingdom anyway. But neither did Jonouchi, and he was allowed on as a competitor anyway, so maybe it isn't as strict a rule as I think it is. Either way, I'm going to compete, and I'm going to get to the finals. That way, with any luck, that means we'll have**_ _ **double**_ _ **the chances of one of us winning.**_

* * *

 **Fair warning to you guys; I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo again this year! Yee! If anybody else is doing it as well, feel free to look me up at Camp; username's Hikari Hellion.**

 **As always, keep reading everyone!**

 **~Hikari Hellspawn**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks this month go out to guisniperman for his review, and to TehBdog for favoriting and following.**

 **As usual, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. Some days, I wish I did...**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Risk It All**

 _ **We're here. Thank god. I hate boats. And in two days, I need to get on it again. Yay.**_

 _ **But for now, I've got more immediate problems. My first order of business is tracking down and winning myself some star chips and getting hold of a dueling glove. I may not have gotten an invite, but neither did Jonouchi, and he's been accepted as a participant anyway.**_

 _ **So it looks like my way into the tournament is winning a duel. Seems fitting, doesn't it?**_

 _ **000**_

 _ **"Y**_ _ou have forty-eight hours! Good luck!"_

Fireworks went off to signal the start of the tournament. So, she had two days to track down a glove and ten star chips, before the finals.

Then…things would get tough.

Selena stretched as the crowd dispersed, the duelists spreading out across the island. Soul-stealing gaming giant or not, she had to admit that Pegasus's island was pretty. If it weren't for the reason they were here, Selena would've been content to compete, just for the view.

Gaming, the outdoors…two of Selena's favorite things right there. Give her some hot chocolate, pizza, and books and it could be a dream.

Well…and take away the lovely issue of Mr. Mutou's soul being in a _video camera._ Then it _would_ be a dream tournament.

Selena started as Bakura put a hand on her shoulder. "Selena? You've been quiet for a while." He said. "Which, well, that isn't worrying so much as the fact that you haven't been ribbing Jonouchi or Honda."

Selena grunted and shrugged. "Just…thinking." She said. "About…all this. This whole tournament and the whole reason we're here."

"You've been thinkin' about that since last _night_." Jonouchi stated.

Selena took a breath. Well, she was going to have to tell her friends, anyway—she was fairly certain that if she just left while nobody was paying attention, Jonouchi and Honda at least would track her down and chew her out, then haul her back to the rest of the group so _they_ could chew her out. She figured it may as well be sooner rather than later. "I'm going to enter."

Silence. Five sets of eyes stared at her before Honda broke the silence. "You mean like…the tournament?"

Selena gave him a look. "No. The boys' bathroom. Yes, the tournament, genius." She shook her head. "The way I figure…I know it's no guarantee, but if I enter too, then I guess that gives us a third chance to have _one_ of us win the whole thing." She shrugged again. "I'm not making a lot of sense…."

"No, it does." Yugi said. "You want to enter as a sort of backup in case me or Jonouchi get eliminated." He frowned at her. "But you don't have any star chips. What're you going to wager to win someone else's?"

Well…she hadn't thought of that. Reaching a hand in her hoodie pocket she pulled out the pouch she had her deck in. "…my cards, I guess." She said. "Until I _do_ win some star chips, it's all I've got to go on anyway."

"No way. Ain't happenin'." Jonouchi said, crossing his arms. "We're _not_ gonna let you wager your _deck_ just to get into the tournament. Look, me and Yugi are already in, once we got some—"

"No. You guys need them more than I do." Selena said. "You've got your sister's eyesight to worry about," she nodded to Jonouchi, "and _you've_ got to get your grandpa back to normal." She nodded to Yugi. "I'm just going to be backup, just in case. You said it yourself on the way here; it's _not_ going to be easy. And if Pegasus _does_ have something up his sleeve, you _know_ he's going to make things even harder. And if all three of us end up in the finals, well…." She trailed off.

Everyone exchanged glances. This was looking like one of those "is this _really_ gonna be a good idea?" times. Besides, it's not exactly the _first_ time she was in a duel with heavy consequences if she lost….

Selena shook the thought out of her mind. If she never saw X again, she'd be too happy. And, frankly, running across _that_ wacko again was the last thing she needed in the tournament. There were already regional and national, even _world_ champs on the island. She didn't need the added threat of a psychic lunatic running loose.

Who _knew_ what he could be capable of on an isolated island in the middle of the ocean. Selena felt a shiver go down her spine…suddenly, she _really_ hoped that there were medical teams scattered among the duelists. The idea of having a bad accident with no on-site emergency medical teams did not sit well with her….

"Then good luck," Jonouchi's voice jolted Selena off that line of thought.

Selena blinked, then came back with an elegant, "Uh."

The corner of the boy's mouth came up in a smile. "In the tournament, dummy. You're gonna need it." He gave her a thumbs-up. "If you can beat the pants offa me, then you'll be fine!"

"Jonouchi, I hate to say this, but a _turtle_ could beat the pants off of you."

"What did—GET BACK HERE, HONDA!"

Selena facepalmed and groaned. _These are my friends…_ well, she could do a lot worse.

Besides, these were the people who she'd told about her Eye, and sure, they were nervous…but then they'd shrugged it off and said 'so what'. If that wasn't the mark of good friends, she didn't know what was.

She _almost_ suppressed a snort when she remembered one of the…not-so-charming gestures Jonouchi had thrown X's way, the _last_ time the lunatic had come calling. Selena was pretty sure that if she'd given him the chance, he'd have thrown X through a wall.

She made note to let him do that, next time.

Bakura was giving her a look. Probably at the random gigglesnort. "It's a long story," She explained. "Anyway…being a backup plan isn't the only reason I want to enter the tournament."

Selena pointed to her right eye. "It's this. I need to get better at handling it, and I figure here is the best way. Fudging my way into the tournament is a pretty damn good excuse to hang around the island, the way I see it."

"You know, you _could_ still do that without entering." Anzu pointed out.

Selena nodded, biting her lip. "I know, but….." _I don't want to say it. That's probably going to be what pisses Jonouchi off more than wandering away without explaining._

She didn't have to. Yugi, apparently, caught on to her line of thinking. "You're going to split up."

Selena nodded, letting out a breath. "…yeah, that."

Honda and Jonouchi had returned—both with a few scuffs and leaves and twigs in their hair. "What—wait, did I just hear that right? _Selena_ wants to _split up?"_

 _Well. Figures._ "Yes, you did." Selena said. "Look…I want to try and control this better." She pointed to her right eye again.

"Can't you do that _without_ going off on your own?" Honda asked.

"That's what _I_ pointed out." Anzu fixed Selena with a look that was usually directed at one of the boys. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that this doesn't sound like a great idea."

"I'm not so sure if testing my abilities with a bunch of people around is such a great idea, either." Selena said. "Look, last year, with the whole incident at the museum, Shadi knew about my Eye. He knew what it could do…or at least, what it could be capable of, if it was in the right hands. And X keeps on tracking me down and insinuating that _he_ knows what it can do, too, and he's tried getting me into his Arcadia Organization."

"You seem to have control of it already," that was Jonouchi.

Selena's mouth tightened as she sorted out what she wanted to say. "…no. Not really." She replied, finally. "From what Shadi and X, and even Mel have said about the Demon Eye, what I _can_ do is only a fraction of what it _could_ do." She licked her lips. "And…I kind of think they're right. Whenever I do anything…psychic-y, it feels like there really is this massive font of power right underneath, that I just can't reach. Before all the crazy and wacky, I never noticed it, because I'd never been looking farther than the surface. After all this…."

"It's like an iceberg," Bakura said. He hadn't actually _known_ them for any of that, but they'd made enough references to their past misadventures that they'd finally just gotten together one weekend and explained it all. Selena hadn't been there in person, but she'd been there via video-call…for a while, she'd thought the poor kid would've broken.

He hadn't, thankfully. He'd just called them all nuts.

At which point Jonouchi pointed out the nutcase in the Ring. Which had earned him a headslap from Bakura.

Which had earned them _both_ a headslap from Anzu, before testosterone could take over.

Selena nodded. "Yeah. And it's the _rest_ of that metaphorical iceberg that bothers me." She frowned. "I have control over a _little_ of my power, but what happens if we get into some situation where that isn't enough?" She shook her head. "If there really _is_ more to what I can do, then _I want to know._ If there's a point where one or all of us are in neck deep and what I've got a hold on so far isn't enough, I want to be able to control what _will be_.

"Besides, even now, every time a Millennium Item activates my Eye goes _crazy_. It happened with Shadi, it happened with Monster World, and it happened when Pegasus took Mr. Mutou's soul. If there's more of those things out there, I _don't_ want to have to deal with my right eye going haywire every time we come across one." She took a breath. "And I don't want to put any of you guys in danger if my trying to control my Eye goes out of control. We're on and island in the middle of nowhere. Even with a load of duelists running around, there's probably still a lot of isolated spots where I can hunker down in to practice. Besides, I've got my phone on me, and I'll bet you that even Pegasus needs cell reception, too."

Selena fell silent. She hadn't meant for the small speech, but that's what had come out, and surprisingly, no one had stopped her. But she wasn't lying; if Shadi was right, if _X_ was right, then she was only scratching the surface of the Demon Eye's power. If that were the case, she wanted to be able to control it. And if there _was_ a death curse on it….

She would break it.

" _Something like that doesn't have friends. Only people who call themselves her friends because they're too damned afraid of her power to say anything else."_

That much was already false. She _had_ friends. They'd stood up for her. And she'd stood up for them. _Would_ stand up for them. If having full control of her Eye is what it took, then that's what she'd do.

And if the Demon Eye was as powerful as had been insinuated, she _didn't_ want to risk putting her friends in harm's way by practicing.

Finally, Yugi broke the silence. "I don't like it, but…keep in contact, all right? That way we'll know you're safe."

Selena smiled and nodded. "Every couple of hours." She agreed. "Or…whenever Jonouchi or Honda do something _really_ dumb. Whichever comes first."

"We're _right here!_ "

Selena stuck her tongue out at Honda. "I know." She put her deck back in her hoodie pocket. "Yugi, Jonouchi…good luck, both of you. And I swear to _god_ , if either of you get eliminated, I'll track your butts down and chew your asses!"

"Then you'll have to get the castle, because we're gonna _win!_ " Jonouchi grinned.

The grin was infectious.

"Meet you guys at the castle!"

 _ **000**_

 _ **I**_ _think I may be lost._

Not for the first time that day, Selena wished that the entrants had been provided a map of the island. It would make figuring out where the hell one was a _lot_ easier.

On the upside, the castle itself was on a hill, which made it both a really good landmark as well as very easy to find. Just look for the high ground of the place. Still, not for the first time, Selena grumbled at her lack of map. It wouldn't have had to have been a very complicated one, just _something_.

She was about to rest her feet when she felt someone rustling around above her head, followed by an un-stealthy "ouch!". Selena stopped and looked up, scanning the branches, and sure enough she spotted a pair of skinny jeans, brown jacket, and neon green hi-tops.

Both of which were being worn by a guy bent over on the branch, rubbing his head. Selena raised an eyebrow, just keeping quiet and watching as he bumbled around in the tree.

Finally, he looked up. "Oh. You spotted me."

"Wasn't that hard." Selena crossed her arms. "Tell me; were you hanging around in that tree for fun, or was there some other reason?"

The guy shrugged. "Well, the view's nice."

"You're facing the wrong way to enjoy the view, bud."

He shrugged again and dropped out of the tree. To his credit—and Selena's surprise—he landed on his feet. "You caught me." He said, holding out a hand. "Name's Ty, college student. I've been hanging out in that tree hoping for a challenge."

Selena gave him a suspicious look, shaking the proffered hand. "Selena. High school. And it looked to me like you were banging your head on branches."

Ty released her hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "Weelll…I'm not really all that experienced with tree-climbing." He said. "A guy I'd been talking with on the boat helped me up here before going off to find a duel of his own…didn't really think about getting down, though…."

Selena let out an exasperated sigh. "A bit of advice? Don't lurk around in trees for unsuspecting duelists to wander by."

"Not enough people?"

"More like less likely to hurt yourself."

"Fair enough." Ty shrugged. He held up his duel glove. "But the tree-climbing thing seems to have worked a bit; you wandered by."

"That your way of challenging me to a duel?"

Ty nodded. "Yep." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and rocked back on his heels, popping the p at the end of the word.

Selena held up her hand, showing it's bareness. "Uh, I don't have a duel glove. Or star chips. Going against me won't win you anything."

"Nooo…just think of it as a for fun thing," he said. "'Sides, if you're good I might give you one of my chips anyway, just for accepting."

Selena blinked at him, her face a deadpan. "You sound like you're trying to convince someone to go out on a date with you."

"Hey, this isn't _that_ different."

Selena sighed inwardly. The guy seemed like a total goof; he was gangly and was wearing a pair of bleached skinny jeans with holes torn in the knees, green hi-tops that were so bright Selena swore they'd glow in the dark, and a maroon turtleneck that clashed horribly with his brown jacket. Selena didn't consider herself a fashion expert, but he looked like a dweeb. The image wasn't helped by the fact that his mop of brown hair looked like he hadn't combed it in a week.

He looked like one of the boys who'd gotten swirlies from the jocks in high school. If she wanted, Selena wouldn't have been surprised if she could throw him several feet.

She pushed the impression to the side; dweeby he may look, the fact that he was a competitor in the tournament meant that he was a top-ranked duelist. If she dueled him, she couldn't take him lightly; doing so would make it too easy for him to wipe the floor with her.

Selena considered his offer for a duel for a moment, then nodded. "What the hell. But I've got _one_ request, Ty."

He stopped rocking back and forth on his feet—was they guy hyperactive or something?—and blinked at her. "What's that?"

Selena pulled out her deck pouch. "I don't want to get one of your star chips as a charity offering. If you bet both your star chips, I'll bet my whole deck."

Ty's demeanor changed. He didn't change his posture, but Selena got the sense that he'd shifted from goofy to dead serious faster than he'd hopped out of that tree. "If you lose you'll be out all your cards."

"I know."

Ty was quiet as he studied her. "You're serious? I don't want to be the one who takes your deck."

"Believe it or not, I'm not a bad duelist myself. Just didn't get an invitation."

The boy eyed her for several more long moments before nodding. "All right, fine. I passed a few duel boxes here; maybe one of them's available for us to use." He said, all traces of his joking gone from his voice. "I'd just like to know how you got onto the island if you weren't invited."

"Came here with some friends who are competing," Selena replied as Ty took the lead. "Figured I'd see what I can manage on my own; been in a few tourneys back home."

Ty peered at her out of the corner of his eye. "I hope you don't mean school tourneys."

"Regionals. Didn't get any farther though."

"Knocked out before then?"

"Pulled out before the state levels. Don't have a way to get to them anyway."

Ty nodded as they reached an empty duel box. "Fair enough, I guess." He said. He opened the door and motioned her inside. "Ladies first?"

Selena scowled, but she entered the box when the lanky college kid didn't enter himself. She took the seat facing the door, pulling her deck out of its pouch and shuffling as Ty sat down across from her. "You ever dueled in a holobox before?"

Selena shook her head as he shuffled his deck. "I've seen a duel in one before, though. The box is supposed to project the cards around you, right?"

Ty nodded. They exchanged decks, cut, and then handed them back. "Among a few other things," he said. "I'm just curious; where'd you see it?"

Selena smirked at him as they drew their opening hands. "Yugi vs. Kaiba."

Ty froze mid-draw. His jaw dropped. "You're joking."

"Nope."

Ty was still frozen. Selena wondered if she'd scrambled his brain so much he'd forgotten they were sitting down for a duel. He blinked a few times before saying again, "You're serious?"

"Yep."

"You saw _Yugi Mutou_ beat _Seto Kaiba._ The _world fucking champion._ At duel monsters. In person."

"Yep. Front-row seats, even." Well, not _quite,_ but it wasn't really false either….

 _"How the fuck did you manage that?"_

Selena's smirk widened and she tapped her hand against her chin, debating whether she should tell him. Finally, she decided. "Okay. When this duel is over, regardless of who wins, I'll tell you how I managed to land front-row seats to Yugi beating the pants off of Kaiba. If you win, I may even give you a few highlights that weren't on TV."

That seemed to shake Ty back to reality. "Uh. Okay. Sounds like a deal." He said, finishing his draw. "I got a d20 I use to keep track of spell counters. I roll and you call odds/evens?"

Selena shrugged. "Sounds good."

Ty nodded and proffered the dice, and rolled it. "Odds," Selena called.

It rolled to a stop, landing on 15. Ty nodded to her. "First play's yours, then." He said, sweeping up the d20 and dropping it back in his pocket. "Go."

 **Selena LP: 2000**

 **Ty LP: 2000**

Selena nodded and drew her sixth card. "I set two face-downs," She said, "and summon One-Eyed Shield Dragon in defense mode. I end."

 **Selena LP: 2000**

 **Ty LP: 2000**

"Playing it safe, huh?" Ty drew. "Makes sense, I guess; can't fault you for wanting to figure everything out before going all-out." He said. "But, I've had a little more experience in these holoboxes than just being a spectator." He slapped a pair of cards down on the table. "I set a face-down of my own and summon Frenzied Panda in attack position." The purple-toned, bamboo carrying panda appeared on Ty's side of the field, facing Selena's dragon. "And I'll have my panda attack your One-Eyed Shield Dragon!"

Selena had been about to point out that Ty's panda had a lower attack, when the bear in question plowed right through her dragon, smashing the breastplate and right into the dragon's body. It disappeared from the field with a screech, leaving her side empty. "Uh, what?"

Ty motioned outside the box. "Look around you, and then look at the field." He said. "The top of this table is holographic, and it shows a replica of the land in a radius of forty feet around this spot. Think of it as a built-in field spell." He tapped the tabletop. "For example, our current field is about fifty percent forest, forty percent plain, and ten percent mountains. And each area gives a power boost of about twenty percent to different types of monsters; beasts and plants from the forest, warriors and beast-warriors from the plains, and dragons and winged-beasts from the mountains. You'd played your shield dragon in the plains area instead of the mountains, so it didn't get the boost whereas my panda got a power-up from the forest. Which, I might add, is what makes up almost all of my field."

"Which means that you need to take your surroundings into account as much as what's in your hand," Selena added, catching on. Ty nodded. "Why're you explaining this to me? Wouldn't it give you an advantage to just let me flounder around and keep the information to yourself?"

"Yeah, but it also wouldn't be a very fair fight if I did." Ty replied. "Besides, you didn't get an _official_ invite, which means you didn't get the same explanation the rest of us got. If you want to stick around as long as possible, it's best you've got the whole story."

Selena nodded. He may be a top-level duelist, but at least he was polite and nice enough to explain. "Anything else I need to be worried about?"

"Not right now. If we run into anything, I'll let you know before you self-destruct. But I expect you know enough about dueling to adjust your play style accordingly. I end my turn, by the way."

 **Selena LP: 2000**

 **Ty LP: 2000**

Selena nodded and drew her card; indeed she did. _So the next thing I play should be better-suited for my side of the field, and it looks like that's all of the mountains and ninety percent of the plains. Too bad there isn't anything for spellcasters._ She looked to his face-down, and the guy smiled. _And there's that. It's probably something meant to put a snarl in any attacks I launch._

Keeping that in mind, she selected the next cards from her hand. "I summon Hibikime in Attack Position, and equip her with Sword of Deep-Seated. Between that and the field power boost, that brings her attack power up to 1740." She said, the dark-haired, green-glad, musical-note-carrying warrior appearing on her side of the field. She pointed to Ty's drooling Panda, still holding its bamboo. "And I'll have her attack your Frenzied Panda!"

Ty flipped one of his fae-downs. "I answer your attack with Mirror Force."

Selena smirked and responded with her own face-down, and the translucent, reflective shield forming on Ty's side of the field melted away. "Remove Trap. Mirror Force goes to the Graveyard, followed by your Panda." She said, as Hibikime's sword tore through the rabid panda. "I end my turn. Your go."

 **Selena LP: 2000**

 **Ty LP: 1200**

Ty smiled as he drew his card. "Not bad," He said. "But not the skills of a pro. Can't deny you've got teeth, though." He studied his hand, before selecting two cards. "I summon Leogun in attack mode, and I'll follow up with Call of the Forest and Primal Rage; since I have a Beast-type on my field, I can summon two Beast Tokens, and until the end of the turn I can attack directly.

"And next, I'll take care of your Hibikime with Tribute to the Doomed; in exchange for one card in my hand, your warrior princess goes to the grave."

Selena cursed as her monster was destroyed, wrapped in bandages then dragged down into a dark, endless pit. "Sword of Deep-Seated, rather than going to the Graveyard, returns to the top of my deck instead."

Ty nodded. "Your field's still empty. And I still have Primal Rage. Leogun, attack!"

 _ **000**_

 _ **I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the first duelist I run across is a pro. There's a lot of times where I wonder if I got in over my head for some reason or other; this is one of them. Ty is good; sure, he looks like the dweeby little nerds at my school that get picked on by jocks, but the guy is legitimately good. Shows how used to dueling Jonouchi and Honda I am.**_

 _ **Still, the guy ain't wrong; I've got teeth. You don't need to have a Beast-deck to know that.**_

* * *

 **Cards Used**

 **One-Eyed Shield Dragon**

 **Attribute: WIND**

 **Level: 3**

 **Type: Dragon**

 **ATK/DEF: 700/1300**

* * *

 **Frenzied Panda**

 **Attribute: Earth**

 **Level: 4**

 **Type: Beast**

 **ATK/DEF: 1200/1000**

* * *

 **Hibikime**

 **Attribute: Earth**

 **Level: 4**

 **Type: Warrior**

 **ATK/DEF: 1450/1000**

* * *

 **Sword of Deep-Seated**

 **Equip Spell**

 **Increase the ATK and DEF of a monster equipped with this card by 500 points. When this card is sent to the Graveyard, place it on top of your Deck.**

* * *

 **Mirror Force**

 **Trap**

 **When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Destroy all Attack Position monsters your opponent controls.**

* * *

 **Remove Trap**

 **Spell**

 **Select 1 face-up Trap Card on the field and destroy it.**

* * *

 **Leogun**

 **Attribute: Earth**

 **Level: 5**

 **Type: Beast**

 **ATK/DEF: 1750/1550**

* * *

 ***Call of the Forest**

 **Quick-play Spell**

 **Activate only when you control a Beast-type monster on your side of the field. Summon two Beast Tokens (Lvl: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 100/Type: Beast) to your side of the field.**

* * *

 ***Primal Rage**

 **Spell**

 **Until the End Phase of your turn, you may attack directly with one of your monsters, and only one.**

* * *

 **Tribute to the Doomed**

 **Spell**

 **Discard 1 card, then target 1 monster on the field; destroy it.**

* * *

 ***=Designates a card made for this story.**

* * *

 **A few notes on Selena's deck, to avoid confusion.**

 **The Deck she uses in Duelist Kingdom is going to be rather different from the one she's been using during TAE. I'm going to be sticking with a theme of Spellcasters and Warriors for her for a while, and I'll be trying to keep as close to the cards that were (canonically) available in the manga at the time. The reason for the deck changes is mostly for plotty reasons, that'll be gotten into in a later chapter. So when you see Selena dueling in _Kingdom of Duels_ , don't be alarmed; I haven't forgotten my own character's deck. Only taking it in a _slightly_ different direction...temporarily.**

 **Don't worry, there'll still be more than a few recognizable cards in there. I'm not going to go into too many details here for those who dislike spoilers, but if you _really_ want to know why Selena's changed up her deck, feel free to PM me and I'll let you know! (As long as you promise not to spoil it for anyone else, of course.)**

 **As always, keep reading, everyone!**

 **~Hikari Hellspawn**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for this update go to SuperNova23, Luna963, and guisniperman for their likes, favorites, and reviews! I really, really apologize for the four-month-long wait, everyone. This summer's been hectic...crossing fingers that it'll start slowing down soon TT_TT**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own YGO in any way, shape, or form. If I did, well, you know the deal.**

* * *

 **C** **hapter 4**

 **In Hot Water**

 _ **Mind if I'm honest?**_

 _ **I hadn't thought my first duel on the island would've been with someone as polite as Ty. Or dorky. Or…well, I was expecting an ass like Haga, or a self-confident twenty-something like Mai. I hadn't been expecting to run into a derpy nerd with bad fashion sense and bed hair.**_

 _ **Still, he was invited here for a reason. And I'm running headlong**_ _ **into**_ _ **that reason now.**_

 _ **Welp. At least I'm not dueling Kaiba.**_

 _ **000**_

 **"L** eogun, attack!"

"Activate face-down; Glass Shield! In exchange for two cards in my hand, the damage I take is halved!"

Ty only raised an eyebrow. "I guess that ends my turn, then." He said. "Your move."

 **Selena Kuro LP: 950**

 **Ty LP: 1200**

Selena let out a breath as she drew. Predictably, it was Sword of Deep-Seated; she needed something more, though. "I'll start with activating Pot of Greed, to give myself two more cards in my hand." She said, moving the Spell to the Graveyard and drawing. She felt a smirk spread across her face.

 _Perfect._

"I summon Tainted Wisdom in Defense position—"

"Face-down; Horn of Heaven. I sacrifice one of my Beast Tokens to get rid of your Tainted Wisdom."

"I see your Horn and raise you one Mystical Space Typhoon; your trap goes to the Grave and my monster is safe." She shot him a smile. "See? I can lay traps too."

Ty made a sound in his throat. "Technically MST is a spell, soo you didn't do any trap-laying, really."

"Oh shut up and let me get on with my turn." Selena selected the second of her new cards. "Next, I activate Polymerization, to fuse my Tainted Wisdom on the field with Ancient Brain in my hand, to summon the lord of the undead; Skull Knight!" The Spellcaster formed out of the mist blanketing her field, the bone armor, shield and mask stark white against the black robes underneath. The bone forming the backbone of its sword and long horns of its mask were deep crimson, and there were a pair of lights peering out from the bone breastplate of the monster. "And I'll give him an extra punch by equipping him with Sword of Deep-Seated!"

Obediently, the bone-clad knight dropped its blade, taking up the shadow-shrouded sword as the bone-and-steel monstrosity dissolved into mist. "And now, attack Leogun!"

The Skull Knight moved faster than it appeared it could, slashing down with the ebony blade at Ty's lion. Before it made contact, though, a force shield caught the sword and flung Skull Knight back to Selena's side of the field, where it landed on its feet, going to one knee to absorb the impact. "Wha…?"

"My spell; Block Attack." Ty winked. "Not only does it stop your attack in its tracks, it forces your Skull Knight into Defense Mode. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not."

Selena glared at him as she placed her last card on the field. "One face-down. I end. Go."

 **Selena LP: 950**

 **Ty LP: 1200**

Ty drew. Selena's confidence in her monster evaporated when she saw the glint come into his eye. "I activate a second Primal Rage, followed with Share the Pain; by sacrificing my last Beast Token, I destroy your Skull Knight. I hope for your sake that your face-down is a counter to that."

Two swords appeared on the field, one in front of Ty's token, and the other aimed at Selena's Skull Knight. Setting her face, she watched as the swords, in unison, dove into the hearts of both monsters, destroying them. Ty hummed. "Apparently it was a decoy. All right, then; you already know the effect of Primal Rage. Leogun, attack."

The lion was already halfway across the field when Selena activated her face-down. "Paralyzing Potion; a non-Machine-type monster equipped with this card can't attack. Not much use for it in my deck, but…well." She said. "And I'm equipping it to your Leogun."

The lion in question was being held in place by an electric net. Ty whistled. "Well, well. Wouldn't have pegged that for a miscellaneous deck." He said. "I set a face-down and end my turn."

 **Selena LP: 950**

 **Ty LP: 1200**

Selena drew. "I'll start by using Fissure to destroy the lowest-ATK monster on your field; in this case, that's Leogun." She said.

"And I answer with my face-down, Solemn Judgement. In exchange for half my Life Points, I can negate any effect on the field."

 **Ty LP: 600**

Selena's smirk returned. "And now that _that's_ out of the way, I'll use Monster Reborn to pull my Skull Knight back from the Graveyard, and equip him with Sword of Deep-Seated again." She said. "And now that you don't have any more face-downs on your field, I attack your Leogun with Skull Knight!"

Selena grinned in satisfaction as Skull Knight's shadow-shrouded, ebony blade tore through Leogun, and it only increased as Ty's Life Point counter hit zero.

 **Selena LP: 950**

 **Ty LP: 0**

"Catch," Selena looked up from the now-inactive tabletop to catch the star chips being tossed her way. They felt warm in her hand. "Hey, good duel. You don't give yourself a ton of credit."

Selena frowned, gathering up her cards and returning her deck to its drawstring pouch. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ty shrugged. "Just a look in your eyes, I guess." He said. "Also…since you beat me this early, I won't be needing this anymore."

Selena frowned as he held out his duel glove. "Uh, why're you giving me that?"

"Well, for one, you'll need it to display your star chips. If you're not wearing one and one of the security guys catch you, you'll be popped onto a boat back to the mainland." Ty replied. "And, again, you beat me, fair and square. You won my star chips, which means I'm out of the tournament."

Selena's frown deepened as he spoke. She didn't reply right away; just stared at his face and that glove. Finally, she sighed, shook her head, and tossed one of the chips back. "Here."

Ty caught it, though from the look on his face, Selena saw that it was out of reflex ( _Well, and I doubt he'd want to have his eye put out; those damn chips are_ _sharp_ ) rather than actually _wanting_ to. "What?"

"Keep that star chip," Selena replied, exiting the box. "I'll be able to scrounge up a duel glove from some other hapless sap anyway. I just want to make one little request…."

"And that is…?" She could hear the frown in the college kid's voice, even without looking.

She turned and leaned up against a tree, shoving her hands into her hoodie pocket. "Meet outside Pegasus's Castle when you've got eight or nine star chips on your glove. I'll be making my way there anyhoo, if I want a spot in the finals; we'll have one last duel outside the gates, to determine who gets to be a finalist and who goes home."

Ty was tugging his glove back on, frowning, considering the request. "Sounds fair. And I think you'll have quite a challenge getting there; most of the guys here are probably better than me, anyway." He said. He started turning to leave, before stopping himself and returning his attention to Selena. "Wait; you never explained how you saw that duel in the front row!"

Selena couldn't help but grin. "Simple." She said, pushing off the tree with her shoulder and starting past the skinny nerd. "I'm friends with Yugi."

Watching Ty's face as the statement sunk in was priceless to watch. She paused, just waiting. And watching. Several times his jaw worked, trying to make words that never came out. His brow furrowed deeper and deeper as his brain processed what she'd just said, followed by the blank-faced, slackjawed disbelief when he finally deciphered her words. "Wha…who…you… _whaaaaaat?"_

Selena's grin widened at his reaction. _I wish I had my camera. That face is_ _gold_ _._ "No, I'm not joking. Yes, I'm friends with the guy who beat Seto Kaiba." She paused, head cocked, determining how far she should go. "…for that matter, being in the same class as _both_ of them—yes, Kaiba's in high school, shocking, I know—means I can tell you that Kaiba _deserved_ to lose a duel for once. The guy's probably the biggest asshole around." _Not to mention in a brain-scrambling magic-induced coma, but there's no need to tell him that._

Ty made a tiny sound that meant that something in him was dying. In a very tiny, squeaky way. Still grinning, Selena clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Easy, buddy; breathe. Remember to breathe. You'll start turning blue if you're not careful."She said, suppressing her snicker. "And you don't need to give me the whole 'do you have any idea how lucky you are' shpeel." _I already know how "lucky" I am, all too well. You've got no idea exactly how lucky I am._

Ty made a few more incoherent sounds before he was capable of words again. _"You're friends with Yugi Mutou?!"_

Selena winked and released his shoulder with a pat. "That's what I said." She said, singsong, as she continued past him, the dumbstruck expression still plastered on his face.

Finally, the laugh bubbling in her chest couldn't be held back. She laughed.

 _ **000**_

 **S** elena flicked the star chip up and caught it in her palm. She was still riding the high of winning her first duel, and her first star chip.

Holding up the chip so it sparkled in the light, she smiled. _One down, nine to go. Even if Ty's right about everyone being better than him, I think I can handle enough to get to the finals._

Selena tucked the chip back into the drawstring pouch she had her deck in. It was still only early afternoon, but the girl was already halfway looking for a nice, secluded spot on the island where she could take a break and start playing with her power without being disturbed.

But, for now at least, she figured she could bask in her victory for just a little bit longer.

 _At least I have one guaranteed duel later on,_ she thought as she stretched.

"Well, well. Was that a star chip I saw you flicking around?"

Dammit.

Selena froze and looked to the direction of the voice. The speaker was average-looking; she looked more at home in a library, rather than on an island in the middle of nowhere. A few years older than Selena, she was wearing a white shirt, blue cardigan, jeans, and flats. Paired with dirty-blonde hair pulled into a messy bun and thick-framed glasses, she looked less like a gamer and more like a librarian.

The duel glove was a dead giveaway.

Wait. No… _gloves._ Plural. For whatever bizarre reason, the woman had not one, but _two_ duel gloves, one on each hand. Frowning, Selena pointed to them. "Why…are you wearing _those_? Don't you need just ten star chips to get into the finals?"

" _If_ I was competing." The woman said. She adjusted her glasses. "But I'm not a competitor. I'm working for Mr. Pegasus."

Selena's frown deepened. "Doesn't he have _enough_ goons wandering around here?"

The woman snorted. "I'm not a 'goon'." She said, voice clipped. "I'm an eliminator."

Selena raised an eyebrow. "So. That mean that you're here to kick people out of the tournament?"

"Exactly." She crossed her arms, pointing with a finger to Selena's bare wrist. "And seeing as _you're_ not wearing a duel glove, that means that you're not an official participant."

"So?"

" _So,_ that means that however you won that chip, it was an illegal win." She tapped her bicep. "Which means I'm going to duel you, take it, and have you shipped off back to the mainland. Clearing out the field for the _actual_ entrants, if you will."

Selena rose and cracked her back. "Sorry, but no thanks." She said. "I decline your challenge. Last I checked, there's nothing in the rules saying I _have_ to accept every duel that comes my way, and I'd rather do a little sight-seeing before my next debacle."

As she turned to leave, Selena felt something cold trickle down her back and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Feeling that danger sense, she slammed down the barriers around her mind, blocking off whatever supernatural attack she was being warned about.

Still, she could feel the compulsion pressing against her mind when the woman spoke next.

"I'm afraid I must _insist._ "

 _ **000**_

 _ **My first eliminator. For those of you who may be wondering, eliminators were pros that Pegasus hired to add an extra element of peril to the tournament. Basically, not only do duelists need to avoid losing all their star chips to other competitors, but they've also got to avoid getting challenged by an eliminator, who would clear them out if they lost. Kind of like how in Pac-man you don't want to run into any of the ghosts. It's an added incentive to win, because you don't know who the eliminators are until they beat the pants off you and put you out of the tournament.**_

 _ **Meh. I got lucky; at least the lady was nice enough to tell me she was an eliminator**_ _ **before**_ _ **the duel. But she probably did that because she had a way to ensure that her target**_ _ **couldn't**_ _ **refuse a duel. Mental defenses or no, I still felt her compulsion, even if I managed to resist acting on it.**_

 _ **Gods damn it. I hate dueling psychics.**_

* * *

 **Yep, there's more psychic duelists out there, much to Selena's chagrin XP. In any case, feel free to read, rate, and review if you liked this chapter! And I'll try _not_ to take four months to update this time. Promise.**

 **Keep reading!**

 **~Hikari Hellspawn**


	5. Chapter 5

**Content warning for this chapter, concerning suicide and self-harm. Mostly on Selena's part; her headspace can get kinda dark. You've been warned.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Duelists for Hire**

 _ **Eliminators. Pegasus's added bit of peril to the tournament, pros he's got in his payroll. I don't know how many there are wandering around out here, but I've managed to find one and she's not very happy with my sneaking into the tournament list.**_

 _ **And unlike her**_ _ **fellow**_ _ **pros, she's got a way to ensure that the people she challenges don't turn her down; psychic compulsion. I can't help but have flashbacks to dueling X...**_

 _ **000**_

 **S** elena felt the hairs on the back of her neck and her arms stand on end as the psychic compulsion from the woman pressed down on her mind. Eye twitching, she slammed down the barriers around her mind, but that didn't stop her feeling the overwhelming _pressure_ of the woman's mind.

It was already making her head pound. Selena wondered how long she'd be able to hold her mental defenses before they'd give in.

She resisted the urge to swallow, not like she'd be able to; her mouth was dryer than the Badlands.

"I'm afraid I must _insist._ "

Selena's right eye was itching again. The pressure on her mind increased as the woman exerted more of her compulsion, and Selena gritted her teeth against it. The woman's words had been as much verbal as mental, and the headache that was already pounding in her head was threatening to grow into a full-blown migraine.

If her brain didn't explode from the effort of resisting the woman's intrusion, that is.

Selena screwed her eyes shut, as much to keep her Eye's activation under wraps as much as to block out the light—already it hurt that badly. She balled her hands into fists and hissed, _"Get. Out. Of. My._ _HEAD!"_

She struck out with a mental lance of her own, and the woman's pressure vanished abruptly. Gasping out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, Selena stumbled against one of the rocks by the stream and sat down heavily. Hands trembling, she rubbed her palms into her eyes, gasping in air as if she'd just gotten out of a stranglehold. It a way she had, out of a mental one.

The woman swore. _"Psychic,_ " Selena heard her hiss. "You're a _psychic._ What are you doing on the island?"

Selena took several more deep breaths and willed her Eye back to inactivity. Now that she was back under a measure of control, she felt less like she was about to pass out. She looked up. _"That_ is none of your damned business."

"It is if you're not on the tournament list." She pulled out a PDA and started tapping at it. "What's your name?"

Selena's eyes narrowed. "No."

The woman pinned her with a glare. Selena slammed down the barriers on her mind again, right before the hairs on the her arms and neck started prickling again. She was using her mental power again. "You _will_ tell me."

Selena set her jaw. "Cut the Jedi mind tricks." She snapped back, the tension in her voice. Now that she knew the woman was a psychic too, she was expecting a mental assault—that didn't mean she wasn't affected, though. Just prepared for another crackdown. "I can hold you off."

"Barely." The woman smiled. Chilly. "You're inexperienced. Strong. But a newbie, like a toddler handed a hammer."

"And you're the adult?"

"Metaphorically." She looked Selena up and down, frowning. "And literally. Not out of high school, by my guess."

"There's kids younger here." Selena swallowed. "Back on topic. I'm not dueling you."

"And I'll keep squeezing your mind until you _change_ your mind. Ability and experience are two very different things, and you're severely lacking in the latter."

Selena gave the woman her best sneer, hoping it looked steadier than she felt. "Bitch, I've fended off scarier asswipes than you. Pretty sure I can handle you for as long as I have to."

The woman narrowed her eyes, eyeing her from behind her glasses lenses. For a moment, Selena thought her bluff had worked; that the eliminator believed her. She wasn't wrong that Selena couldn't hold her off indefinitely, but she only had to do so for long enough to make her _believe._...

The chilly smile returned to her lips. "Cute." She said.

Then it felt like a sword was driven right through her skull. Selena didn't know if she screamed, but she _did_ know she fell off her rock before passing out.

 _ **000**_

 **S** he came to with a pounding head. _The fuck was the number of that steamroller?_

Her head swelled with pain. She hissed. _Okay, scratch that; what was the number of the_ _nuke_ _that hit me?_

"Good morning, sunshine."

The eliminator. Well, dammit; she'd overloaded Selena's barriers. Shit.

Selena cracked her eyes, swore under her breath in German, before forcing herself to open them all the way and look up. The eliminator, still looking prim and poised with her hands folded on the table in front of her, was sitting across from her in a duel box.

The woman's deck was sitting on the table, at her elbow. Selena's was as well, sitting in the deck zone on her side to her right. She frowned. "I haven't touched it." The woman said. Selena turned the frown to her. "See for yourself. You've got enough control to tell _that,_ at least."

Selena's frown edged into scowl territory. "My powers don't work that way."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Don't they?" She sat back, crossing her arms. "I find that hard to believe."

"Well, believe it."

She hmmed. "I believe it about as much as I believe X is sane."

The retort Selena was already formulating was thrown out the mental window at that. "You _know_ that basket case?!"

"Yes. I work with him." She raised an eyebrow. "And no, I'm not a lunatic. At least, no more than you are."

Selena snorted. "You work for a man who's working with more than a few misfiring neurons. He tried _killing me_ in a duel. A _psychic_ duel. Where the loser was going to be _electrocuted to death._ "

"I said _with_ , not _for_ , and things like _that_ are why he's not the only one calling the shots in the Arcadia Organization." The eliminator rolled her eyes, exasperation creeping into her voice. "Frankly, I was surprised he didn't start falling off the deep end earlier."

Selena was feeling worse by the moment. X wasn't the _only_ one in charge of his 'organization'? That did _not_ make the girl feel better. Quite the opposite. "Exactly how many of you creeps _are_ there?"

"We're not all 'creeps', Miss Kuro." Selena's eyes widened. "Yes, I know who you are. My not-quite-sane associate has at least enough marbles to have told the rest of us about you." The woman tilted her head forward slightly, and Selena squirmed. She wondered if this was what a petri dish felt like under a microscope. "We're human. And, barring X, quite sane."

"Then why am I getting creepy cult vibes off of you right now? Because I am."

The woman let out another exasperated almost-sigh. "You're a stubborn one," she muttered. "Miss Kuro...whether you know it or not, the human race as we know it is becoming obsolete. Slowly, yes, but it's happening. You may not like it, as the people whom you think are your friends are—for lack of a better word—inferior—"

Selena bristled. " _Don't you_ _dare_ _insult my friends!"_ She shouted, rising from her chair—or, trying to.

The woman's eyes flicked to her, and Selena found herself pressed down in her seat as though she were bound. She tried lifting her arms, to no avail; they wouldn't budge, nor would her legs. The telekinetic hold the eliminator facing her was a solid as if it were made of cast iron. "They are not your friends. They say they are to make you feel better, but in reality they're afraid. Afraid of your power. Afraid of what you might do, should you indeed master it. Afraid of _you._ "

Selena ground her teeth. Her right eye was prickling, itching to be used. And oh, did she _want_ to. She wanted so badly to let loose and upend the chair the eliminator was sitting in, send her to the ground and then slam the thing down on her. Several times.

But, she refrained, taking several long, deep breaths to calm that instinct. "They are _not_ afraid of me. If anyone's afraid of what I can do, it's _me._ "

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? And what makes you so afraid of a gift you were born with?"

Selena snorted. "I wouldn't call my damn right eye a fucking _gift._ Curse is more the right word." She retorted, before her brain-mouth filter kicked back in. "I can't control the damn thing. It's more like a psychic fire hose than a Super Soaker. It's a pain in the ass that I'd really, _really_ rather not deal with." She tested the telekinetic bonds, to find that yep they were still as firm as ever. "Kinda like _you._ "

The woman hmmed. "Ah, well. I'm sure you'll come around soon enough, once you've joined the Organization. Believe me, Miss Kuro, our members would be _more_ than happy to help you understand and control your power." A beat. "In fact, it's the whole _purpose_ of the Arcadia Organization. To seek out young talents like you and give them the guidance they need, to reach their full potential."

"And then what? Rule the world as its psionic dictators? Use our 'gifts' to lord over the poor, weak, ungifted primitives like we know better?"

"Hah!" The woman barked out a laugh. "Please, we're not _that_ cliché. Nobody in Arcadia has any designs on running a country. We simply wish to...guide the world to a more peaceful future."

Selena's eyes narrowed. "A psychically-run future, you mean." She said evenly. "How you gonna do that? Scare the 'inferiors' into submission and then mind-control the rest?"

"Preferrably not, but if that's what it takes..." she shrugged. "And your Demon Eye will help with that. You want to master it. We want to help everyone on the planet." A small smile crossed her lips as she leaned forward, resting her elbows back on the table. "It's a win-win for both sides."

 _Except the people under your boots._ Selena thought, but that wasn't the only think popping into mind.

She knew the Demon Eye. Somehow, this woman knew that the Demon Eye was a _thing_ that Selena was stuck with, and that it had a name. Not just a nickname because of it's appearance.

Curiosity got the best of her. "You know about the Demon Eye."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "Of course." She said mildly. "Granted, information on it is rather...sketchy, at best. It's no small feat to learn _anything_ about it, as the ones who have the information are...reluctant to give it up."

Selena felt her hands balling into fists. "Until you rewire their brains, I'll bet."

"I call it 'convincing'." She shrugged again. "In any case, I could teach you not just how to control your Eye, but how to master it and turn it into a tool." The small smile on her face turned a tad frosty. "Even, perhaps, to _break_ the death curse on it entirely."

The comment Selena had on the tip of her tongue vanished. _Break_ the curse. Break the curse on it that drove everyone but Yugi and Jonouchi and the others away, that got her swirlies and beatings and thrown in front of buses...

Selena swallowed. It was...more than a little tempting. There wasn't a whole lot she wouldn't give to know how to break the death curse hanging over her. To give the finger to whatever sick power that was who got their kicks out of watching people tortured and killed for no fucking reason.

For a moment, she let herself think about what that was like. She wouldn't admit it there, or out loud, or _ever_ for that matter...she was tempted. Breaking the curse...being _normal..._

Apparently it showed on her face, because the woman's smile widened. "Yes. I can see it in your eyes; I know what you're thinking." She said softly. "And frankly, I can't blame you for thinking it. It must be absolutely hellish back home, surrounded by people who mock and torment you. I wonder, how many times one of your classmates has tried to kill you."

Selena bit down on the inside of her cheek. Her leg tingled, the one that had been run over by a school bus when Solstice had pushed her into its path. The rich, entitled little bitch hadn't been able to take _one_ rejection, and it had resulted in over two months in the hospital for Selena.

She swallowed again. If that hadn't happened, well...she'd have been saved a lot of pain. If that hadn't happened...

 _You wouldn't have friends. You'd still be stuck in Iowa at a shitty school with shitty classmates and not much to look forward to. Hell, you might've stopped_ _considering_ _Dad's razor if you hadn't passed the acceptance test and made Solstice lose her shit._

That...that stopped Selena cold. She'd tried suicide once...right after her older sister had slit her own throat, blaming being related to Selena for it. It had failed, and she'd woken up in the hospital the next day with stitches in her wrists and bandages up her arms. But by the time she was getting ready to enter high school, those dark thoughts were rearing their head again and she was considering taking her father's straight razor out to the barn one night and...ending it.

Selena bit down harder on the inside of her cheek. The whole _reasoning_ she'd had when signing up for the exchange program was 'hey, at least it ain't here. It can't be any worse'.

It wasn't. She'd met friends.

It'd taken over a year, but she'd somehow managed to run into the only people on the whole damn planet, apart from Mom and Dad, who weren't turned away by whatever heebies her Eye gave off. Who didn't send her dirty looks, spit on her, slam her into walls or bathroom stalls.

Or a million _other_ things.

Selena's fingernails dug into her palms. "No."

The woman's eyebrows went up. "No?"

"You heard me. No." She rotated one of her wrists and flipped the woman off. "I've gotten this far. I'm a creative girl; I'm pretty sure I don't need your shitty organization's help in controlling my Eye and telling the death curse to fuck off."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "Nothing I say is going to dissuade you, is it?"

"Nope."

"Hn." Her mouth went into a thin line. "Suit yourself. But I still have a job to do." Selena felt the weight on her arms release. "Draw your hand. Psychic or not, you're still here against tournament rules. I'm going to be nicer than most of my...co-workers and let you at least _try_ to beat me before I shove you off the island."

Selena drew her opening hand, a scowl creeping over her face. "You say that like you already know you'll win."

The woman cocked her eyebrow. "You duel as a hobby. I do it for a living." She drew her first card, then summoned a monster to her field; a robe-clad, masked Spellcaster with orange hair. "Your turn, Miss Kuro."

 _ **000**_

 _ **It seems, no matter where I go, I can't get away from X and his band of pains in the ass. It makes me wonder more than a little bit if Pegasus**_ _ **knew**_ _ **what this lady was a part of when he hired her...**_

 _ **Of course, that can wait until**_ _ **after**_ _ **the duel. Right now, I need to focus on winning this duel...and staying in the tournament.**_

* * *

 **So, uh. Yeah. Updates have been sporadic, and I have no explanations or excuses why. I've been working on a crapload of other stuff at the same time, including setting up a couple other fics I'm going to be posting in the near-ish future. Though to prevent the taking for-freaking-ever to update, I'm planning on getting those all written first, so I _know_ there's going to be posts on-time. Or at least, when I say there will be.**

 **Anyway, thank you to doggy bye and xXYuseiXAkikoXx for favoriting, and everyone else for putting up with my terrible procrastination. I swear, I'm going to at least _try_ to do more than one chapter per year. In the meantime, please bear with me.**

 **~Hikari Hellspawn**


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